Zappos Founder’s Customer Rewards App RNKD Now On Android

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RNKD, the customer rewards app and brainchild of Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn, is today arriving on Android. With the new mobile application, users can snap photos of the clothes and accessories they own, upload them to the RNKD website and receive rewards directly from brands.

The idea with RNKD is that customers should get rewards for the things they actually bought, not just the things they “like” on Facebook, tweet about, or add to online wishlists. It’s a “put your money where your mouth is” kind of thing.

Since the service’s launch last month, RNKD says it’s seeing an average of 26 uploads per person, with about 12 different brands and 9 different stores represented. Over 2,000 brands have been uploaded to the site, including big names like Nike, Ralph Lauren, Express and H&M. Somewhat surprisingly (I say totally aware of the sexist connotations), 46% of the site’s users are men. The service is doing well engaging its users, too, as 47% of its visits are return visits.

RNKD says that because it’s only a month old, it’s not comfortable releasing hard metrics, like number of users or iOS app downloads.

For now, the rewards primarily consist of gift cards for Zappos and Dethrone (Swinmurn’s apparel brand), but the idea is that, in time, brands themselves will step in and begin to show their top customers some love, too. The company reports that it has already been receiving requests from brands, but won’t go into detail.

Businesses adore the Facebook “like” metric right now, so convincing them that’s a broken model for customer interactions is going to be a tough sell. And it’s not likely that the biggest brands would jump on board with a new startup like this until it gains critical mass. Meanwhile, it’s not likely to gain critical mass until there are some amazing rewards from big brands being offered. A Catch-22? Perhaps. But this isn’t any ol’ startup – it’s one from the Zappos founder. And that may be its saving grace.